June 30th, 2016

Conquering the Content Crisis

We all know the basics of online marketing today – write a blog at least once a week, post on social media every day, send email newsletters, and so on.

In the beginning, it’s new and exciting. You’re establishing your game plan, creating a content workflow, and eagerly watching as you gain new followers. But, what a lot of people don’t tell you about online marketing is that if you’re constantly doing the same thing over and over, then at some point your engagement level will peak.

The Content Crisis

In fact, a recent study from TrackMaven discovered that the amount of content produced last year rose 34%, but engagement decreased by 17%; and there are many different factors that are contributing to this decline.

For one, we are producing more content than ever before – over 2 million blog posts are published every day. Getting eyes on your work is harder than ever, and creating original content is nearly impossible as someone else has surely written something close to what you’re working on. This means that simply writing a good article isn’t enough; you have to provide value.

In addition, we are all too familiar with the click-bait nature of most of the content produced by major media outlets. Titles that have no correlation to the content inside. Or even worse, titles that promise answers which never come.

Where does it end?

Small businesses producing quality content can’t compete with the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and Elite Daily who have the funds to endlessly promote their posts on every social platform.

A Fresh Start

If you feel that you’re engagement is lacking, don’t be discouraged because there are options. Sometimes you need to take a step back and review your marketing from a fresh perspective. See what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do differently.

Promoted Content

Social media outlets such as Facebook are becoming increasingly worthless for businesses unless they are willing to spend money. However, the good news is you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot.

If your goal is to get more eyes on your content, then pick out a couple of your strongest posts to promote. Spend some time reading through it, and add more content or update data and links if necessary. Next, make sure your post is beautifully formatted, easy-to-read, and edited properly. Once you feel good about your blog, curate your social post with text and a compelling image.

And finally, when you’re deciding the criteria for promoting your content, keep your ideal customers in mind – their demographic, age and interests. (Facebook and other social networks allow you to determine these things.) Don’t waste your money promoting your hard work to people who aren’t interested.

Keyword Research

One of the easiest things you can do to try and increase engagement is to review your content keywords. Are your blog posts optimized? Are you trying to rank for keywords that are too difficult? Are you including too many keywords? These are common problems to have, that’s why it’s important to do an audit every few months. For more information on keywords and search engine optimization, we’ve written a helpful introduction to SEO.

Video

Video is going to continue to dominate online marketing; so if you haven’t started, there is no better time than now. According to Hyperfine Media, 95% of B2B organizations use video in some capacity in their marketing campaigns, and 73% report positive results to their ROI. Need some inspiration? Check out these 7 successful campaigns.

Contest

If your goal is to gain more social followers and create a little “buzz” about your business, then consider holding a contest. Ask people to “Like” your pages, comment on articles or share with their friends before they can be entered to win. It’s a simple tactic, yet extremely effective when done right.

Personalize

One of the major marketing trends at the moment is to personalize everything. Include the receiver’s name in an email. Customize your website content to each of your buyer personas, and create blog posts specifically tailored to their needs. HubSpot has a great guide for implementing personalization techniques ASAP.

Keep Going

Online marketing is changing every day. And the only way to stay in the game is by changing along with it. Continue improving your content and trying new tactics to increase engagement. Although it can be frustrating to not see your hard work get the attention it deserves, if you keep producing quality content that has value, people will notice.

Want some practical tips?

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Posted by Ariel Valley

Web designer, writer, social media lover and inbound marketer at Catch22 Marketing. Also known as a professional coffee taster, shoe enthusiast and film buff. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter @ariel_valley.